Image post-processing, such as what is known as multi-planar reformatting (MPR) known in the prior art, is a task that is often encountered in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Once image data is loaded into post-processing programs, the user can generate views along any arbitrary planes by rotating the data set in 3-D space.
Multi-planar reformatting is the use of a 3-D image data set to create a data set representing an arbitrary slice plane of the 3-D image data set so that a slice image can then be viewed.
It is known in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) using the Siemens AG, Munich, Germany, MRI imaging software known as the Syngo system, including the 3-D image post processing tool thereof, to display arbitrary planes also known as slices of a 3-D MRI image which has been stored. This prior art tool in the Syngo system can display such arbitrary slices of a portion of the human body, such as the heart. Such images are known in the prior art, as explained above, as multi-planar reformat (MPR) images. Such an arbitrary plane can be freely moved through the data cube representing the 3-D image.
In such prior art, however, for post-processing of images for multi-planar reformatting, such MPRs are performed manually by rotating the 3-D data set until the desired plane is visualized.